


Ivy

by Rae_Saxon



Category: House of Night - P. C. Cast & Kristin Cast
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cheating, F/M, Trouble in Paradise (Literally), unhappy relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-13 03:27:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28771584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rae_Saxon/pseuds/Rae_Saxon
Summary: Nyx eternal love has been promised to Erebus - The only problem is that the man she truly loves is the dark warrior who'd sworn to always protect her. And so she starts sneaking out to meet him under her consort's nose. | Loosely based on "Ivy" by Taylor Swift
Relationships: Erebus/Nyx (House of Night), Kalona/Nyx (House of Night)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I know this fandom is barely non-existent on AO3 but I just... I had to. I listened to Ivy on repeat and it made me so sad because it fits them so well and thus, this AU was born.   
> I'm sorry for what I'm doing to Erebus but he's a plot device and in this AU, he'll just have to suck a little. :P
> 
> I also once read someone say that Nyx is a very jealous Goddess and honestly - Yes. I am here for it.

She shouldn't even have looked at him.

From the beginning of everything, from their birth, she had been promised to Erebus. He was her Consort. Legends were sung of them, depictions older than her children's civilisations hung in her temples.

To consider anyone else was sacrilege.

She really shouldn't look at him.

The day of them moving in together, of them officially starting their lives as consorts, there had been a battle. The Darkness trying one last rise against them, before the Light would protect her realms, keep it outside with all its might, empowered by the Union they'd agreed to.

Love, she thought. Love forever and always.

And she would have to learn to love Erebus. She would have to to protect her new children and keep up the endless battle between Light and Darkness.

So really, she shouldn't look at _him_.

But there he stood, the warrior of her realms, covered in his blood and the blood of their enemies, chest free, dark wings spread out – But they were nothing, nothing compared to the look in his golden eyes. It was burning right through her chest, touching something she hadn't ever known before she'd known him.

He was different than Erebus. They looked similar, but he looked wild where Erebus was civilised, dark and seductive where Erebus was light and playful.

She was a goddess of Light. She should not be attracted to dark and wild and seductive.

Yet here he stood, in the bushes of her own little grove – Gently calling for her without actually uttering a word.

And Nyx, Goddess of the Night, couldn't stop herself from being _tempted_.

  
She'd let him stand in the bushes right below her new window that night. He'd flung his spear into the soft earth, sat down and looked around the grove, guarding their new house (her new prison).

Erebus had taken her upstairs, had given her from his favourite wine and chatted with her about all the things he was planning, the involvement with her children he was looking forward to and Nyx had been too distracted to even tell him that she didn't want him involved (She had done what she needed to protect them, always them, but they were _hers_ ) – Thrown out guilty looks through the window, to where she could just see a few black feathers peak out.

Erebus, noticing her gaze once or twice, gave her a wide, satisfied grin.

“I'm glad you like your new gardens. I think we picked a good spot.”  
  
“Kalona is outside,” she said before she could stop herself. “Guarding.”

“Well, naturally.” Erebus laugh was supposed to be light-hearted, but it sounded smug and heavy. “My brother promised to be our warrior, remember? To keep us safe, my love.”

A hand moved to her cheek, brushing it ever so lightly and there was warmth in his touch, as if sunlight was following his trail even though it was late evening.

No, she thought, trying her hardest not to flinch back from his touch. He'd promised to be _her_ warrior.

And Erebus had claimed him for himself, like he did with her children, with her Grove.

Nyx forced herself to a smile.

“Of course.”

It's just that it didn't feel as if Kalona was keeping both of them safe. It felt as if he sat in the bushes for her and her only. As if his shadow was reaching to her feet, beckoning for her to come closer, to escape the glaring sun of Erebus by his side.

“I'd like to take a walk,” she said, getting up.

“But we have just... I thought we could... This house is barely lived in, yet. _Our_ house.”

You stay in here, she thought. Let it suffocate you, close in on you. Live this prison of stone in. I belong with the wild and the bushes.

But she didn't say any of that. Instead, she smiled at him weakly and stepped out of the room with hasty steps.

“I'll be back in a bit.”

“We're not going together?” Erebus asked and Nyx froze.

“You know I need my alone time. You've always known that. Time to look after my children, to listen to their prayers. Time to roam through my realms. To soak in the moonlight.”

Erebus nodded.

“I understand.”

He looked thoughtful, almost calculating when his gaze wandered outside through the window to where Kalona was sitting.

“Do make sure to return to me, my love. I would so hate for you to get lost in _our_ realms.”

Nyx managed to not let her eyes go cold while she gave him one little nod and turned around, walking out of the room.

She walked past Kalona too, hasty steps leading away from the lifeless, cold hut of stone that was threatening to smother her soul.

He called after her.

“Goddess...”

“I am not in the mood,” she replied coldly, more coldly than she should, than she had ever thought she could, but Erebus could still see them and something that made her heart flutter as much as his voice did shouldn't be seen by him, that she knew.

She had to let this spark die before it could ruin both of them.

The beauty of her grove calmed her down a little. The gentle swing of the branches in the wind, the warmth of the night surrounding her, the laughter of her children in the trees, around the seas, the cats purring wherever she went. This was home. This was what she had been protecting when she'd made the deal with the Black Bull.

When she'd chosen love, forever and always.

When she'd accepted to be eternally bonded to Erebus in front of her Warrior's eyes, darkened and tormented.

“I did the right thing,” she muttered to herself, not sure who she was trying to convince. Herself or the listening, finally peaceful night. “I did what I had to do.”

“Then why does it feel so wrong?”

His voice was calm as he stepped closer but Nyx felt herself shiver at the sound regardless.

“You shouldn't have followed me, Kalona.”

“He didn't see. I doubt he sees anything but the glaring light of his own ego.”

“Look who's talking,” she mumbled under her breath, still keeping her back turned to him as she continued to walk. The grass was gentle and warm on her bare feet, but a pleasant kind of warm, the kind of warm that made her feel like home rather than sweaty and uncomfortable.

She let her fingers brush over some of the bushes she passed and everywhere that she did, flowers bloomed in beautiful rainbow colours.

Kalona's steps were still audible behind her.

“I can't help myself,” he explained after a little moment of silence. “Following you. It's where my heart wants to be.”

“You've sworn to protect this place.” She turned around, something heavy on her heart she hadn't been able to place this entire time finally breaking free, finding its voice. “You've sworn to be my warrior and now you're everyone's.”

“It's what you asked me to do.” His amber eyes met hers and she could read shock in them. “I will always do what you ask me to do.”  
  
“I asked you not to follow me, did I not?”

He didn't scare from the coldness in her voice, instead he gave her a crooked grin and it made her heart flutter.

“I will _almost_ always do what you ask from me, then. Regardless of the oath I made to guard your realms and your...” - his lips curled in disgust - “...consort, my oath to you is still in place. I will never abandon you.”

“And I appreciate that, my warrior,” Nyx replied, her voice softening. “But you can't feel these things for me anymore.”

He laughed at that, threw his head back and started laughing like a child.

“You're telling me to stop loving you? Because of my fool of a brother? Goddess, that will never happen.”

“Don't... don't say that.”

“Say what? _Love_? Does it scare you, Goddess?” He shifted closer, standing so close before her now, she could feel his breath on his lips. “Does it scare you to hear what is between us have the name of what is closest to you? Yes, I love you. I always have and always will. And I know you love me, too.”

“I do not!” She shouted the words, heard them echo around her in the grove and quickly took a step back, away from him.

Kalona regarded him with an almost cruel smirk tugging at his lips.

“My Goddess, your entire being relies on kindness, mercy, love and trust. Do not let my brother make you a liar. It doesn't suit you.”

She tilted her head, looking at him with endless sadness.

“I think it's too late for that, my warrior.”  
  
  
When she returned to her consort in the morning, as the sun was gently rising in the distance, diving her beautiful grove into golden-red light, she saw a single, beautiful vine of ivy had crawled up the grey, cold wall of the house, originating right from the bush Kalona had sat in.


	2. Chapter 2

“Where did you go?” Erebus asked to know for the twentieth time this week.

“Out.”

He stood before her, godlike and beautiful and glowing and looking... sad. His face was stony facing hers.

“Out where?”

Nyx shrugged graciously.

“Anywhere. Everywhere. Just walking. Being in nature.”

She wasn't lying, hadn't lied to him once, had never given him another answer and yet he always seemed to expect a different one.

“I don't understand. You're barely home. You roam the forests like a wild creature, like one of its animals, rather than be here with me.”

Nyx crooked her head, long strands of shimmering hair falling down beside her.

“That's because I am a wild creature. Did you think I'd sit next to you like a good little housewife? _Tamed_?”

“I thought you'd be with me,” Erebus replied and the honesty in his voice let her stagger. “At least once in a while.”

“All the life is outside, Erebus. In here is only silence, only stone suffocating me. Dead things.”

“What, would you rather sleep on a bed of hay and drink directly from the rivers?”

She leaned forwards, a wide, dazzling grin on her beautiful lips.

“Yes.”

For a little while, Erebus merely stared at her. Then the corners of his mouth lifted a little and his stony expression lit up, making space for a hint of life.

“Show me, then.”

“Show you?” she asked, stunned.

“Show me where you go. What's there to see. Show me what you love so much.”

And so she did. She showed him all she loved. Led him through her deepest forests, showed him her clearest waters, introduced him to her happiest children and watched him warm up from the inside. He carried a love for everything and everyone they met that was easy to watch bloom and Nyx was more relaxed than she had been in a long, long while.

Oh, she showed him all she loved. She showed him all she loved except for the one, carefully hidden spot in the middle of her Grove, with trees intertwined, shielding Kalona from curious looks as he waited for her on the beautiful green, flower-sprinkled grasses.

  
  
“We can't keep on doing this,” she told him, not for the first time but – also not for the first time – Kalona waved her concerns aside.

“Why-ever not? He's happier when you're happy.”

“Happy?” she asked, a thin eyebrow raised at him. “You think it makes me happy to have to sneak around, hide us from him, _lie_ to him like this?”

“Would you be happier to stop?” Kalona asked, voice quiet as his cool arms embraced her, pulled her to his chest and Nyx sighed heavily.

“No.”

Soft, wonderful, intoxicating lips brushed her temple ever so lightly, making her shiver.

“See?”

She tried to relax in his arms, closed her eyes to the familiar sound of his wings rustling and wrapping around her, keeping her warm, keeping her safe, but the tension was still there, deep in her bones, not leaving her. She knew what she did was wrong, she knew she should be stronger than this. She was a Goddess. How could she guide her children with kindness and truth while, at the same time, giving herself to someone behind her consort's back?

“I can feel how tense you are,” he murmured behind her, his voice low and his breath hotly grazing her neck. He shifted a little, gently guided her to sit upright and then his hands were kneading her shoulders, relaxing her expertly.

Strong, she thought. Gorgeous. Wild. Dangerous. Always knowing what she needed. Always protecting. And oh, an arrogant, stubborn fool, too.

She turned her head, let him see the glaring smile she couldn't suppress in his presence and he smiled right back, warmer than she'd seen him smile at anyone else, adoration shining in his eyes and she shouldn't, she really shouldn't, but Nyx leant forwards still, lips brushing against his, light, so light, just light enough to sense the taste of him and then halted.

He blinked, his hands still on her shoulders but unmoving now, once, twice and she watched a veil of need darken his eyes before he crashed against her, hands burying in her hair now, pressing her against him.

She'd never been kissed like this before. So full of want and possessiveness and hunger, but still she felt safe, loved under his touch. The hands tugging at her hair were rough but never truly hurt her and the skin against her threatened to burn her from cold, but never did.

She got drunk on the taste of him, the feeling of his lips moving against hers, the low growl she felt vibrate against her more than she heard it. Yes, she thought. She belonged in the forests with the wild ones and the animals.

They both did.

“Stay,” he begged, slightly breathless, as he pulled back a little, his eyes still locked with hers and his fingers lightly playing with a lock of her hair, twirling it around them, then letting them go.

“You know I can't. He doesn't like when I'm out too long.”

“He's not the boss of you,” he growled, anger over-taking him, as it always did, jealousy audible in his deep voice and she smiled sadly at him.

“No, he is not. And neither are you, my warrior.”

He took a deep breath, puffed chest sinking back to normal size and gave her a crooked, apologetic smile.

“I wouldn't dare to dream of it. I was asking, not ordering.”

She lifted a hand to his cheek, thumb brushing over his skin ever so gently.

“I know. And I would stay, _I_ _would_. But I don't want to torment Erebus any further. He doesn't deserve it. He deserves none of this.”

His hand found hers, holding it there and his gaze became more intense.

“But what about you? You deserve to be with someone you love.”

“And so I am,” she sighed, the sad smile still in place and she could feel from the look on his face, from the way his eyes lit up and then darkened that he had not expected her to admit her feelings like this. “But it doesn't change the fact that it would torment him. Already is.”

Nyx lowered her gaze, looking at the ground between them, feeling ashamed.

“But you'll come back, right?” he whispered, his voice so quiet it was barely audible over the gentle wind rustling in the trees around them.

“Always, my warrior. Just as I know you will always protect me.”

She rested her forehead against his, breathing in heavily, revelling in his proximity, the familiarity one last time, before getting up, quickly turning her back before she'd find herself unable to.

It looked pretty, she thought. Like the house was slowly, very slowly, becoming part of the forests she loved so much. Like it was turning into something _alive_.

“Maybe one day I'll be able to like it,” she whispered to no one but the listening wind, her gaze pinned to the freshly grown ranks of ivy that had further crawled up the stony facade. “Covered in the evidence of my betrayals. How fitting.”

The wind didn't reply but it playfully roared around her, letting her hair blow around her head and Nyx laughed, for a moment feeling truly free, as she spread out her arms and felt the element comfort her.

“Thank you, my friend. Please. Go to Kalona too,” she whispered reluctantly when she stepped closer, feeling the house tower before her like a dark prison. “Bring him the same lightness. Carry a bit of my laughter to him. We've been having too little of it, lately. Laughter.”

It played around her one last time, then she felt it rush away from her, leaving her alone with her burden and the Goddess of the night sorted out her hair, put on a smile and entered.


End file.
